M&S calls for crackdown on ‘brazen, organised, aggressive’ retail crime

Marks & Spencer has called on the government and London’s mayor to crack down on retail crime, saying it has become “more brazen, more organised and more aggressive”, after reporting an increase in shoplifting and violence at its stores.The M&S chief executive, Stuart Machin, has written to the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, and its retail director, Thinus Keeve, has written to the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, saying greater resources are needed for police to tackle the crime effectively and target repeat offenders and crime hotspots.“In the past week alone we have had gangs forcing open locked cabinets and stripping shelves, two men brazenly emptying the shelves of steak and walking out, a large group of young people ransacking a store before assaulting a security guard, a colleague head- butted trying to defuse a situation and another hospitalised after having ammonia thrown in their face,” Keeve wrote on the M&S website.“It is worse in London, but it is happening across the country, and it is becoming routine, because it seems there are no consequences.”Police responded to reports of antisocial behaviour involving a group of “several hundred young people” this week in Clapham, south London, as part of “link-ups” using social media apps, including TikTok and Snapchat

Put away the Aperol and raise a glass to Hugo spritz, the drink of the summer

Pub gardens and bar terraces have been awash with a sea of orange in recent years as Italy’s love of Aperol spritz spread to the UK. But this year the cocktail’s cousin, a Hugo spritz, will be the drink of the summer, according to supermarkets and bars.It is already being served across the country, including at Sea Containers on the banks of the Thames and Mayfair’s swanky Claridge’s hotel in London, 20 Stories bar in Manchester and the Bridge Tavern in Newcastle. Wetherspoons has the cocktail on its menu nationwide.“In the past year, we have noted that there has been a wider shift among our guests towards drinks with lower alcohol percentages, particularly during the day – a Hugo spritz fits rather neatly into this space,” said George Raju, director of bars at Claridge’s

Food prices spiked in March as Middle East conflict drove up energy costs, UN says

Food prices rose sharply in March as war in the Middle East drove up energy prices and freight costs around the world, a UN report says.An index of food commodity prices by the UN’s food and agriculture organisation increased by 2.4% in March, its second consecutive monthly rise.The index – which tracks grain, sugar, meat, dairy and vegetable oil costs – had risen for the first time in five months in February.The biggest increases were in vegetable oil and sugar prices, which increased by 5% and 7% respectively in March

Google to tap into gas plant for AI datacenter in sharp turn from climate goals

Google’s plan for a partnership with a natural gas power plant that could provide energy for one of its datacenters in Texas was unearthed by new research and confirmed by the company. The move is part of an ongoing about-face for the tech giant, which once pledged to be carbon neutral by 2030 and has long been seen as a pioneer in clean energy.The gas power plant is slated to be built in Armstrong county, a sparsely populated area in the Texas panhandle. According to a report by the research organization Cleanview, the project is being led by Crusoe Energy, which partnered with Google to develop the datacenter campus known as “Goodnight”, named after a nearby town.Crusoe filed for a permit in January to build the 933-megawatt power plant on the site of the Goodnight campus, which showed the facility would operate off the grid and provide energy to at least two buildings on the campus, according to Cleanview

Unhittable: are the modern era’s weightlifting, analytics-fueled pitchers too good?

A new book explores how technology and a host of maverick innovators have given rise to an exceptional crop of baseball playersIn a 1940 publicity stunt, the Cleveland Indians’ flamethrowing pitcher, Bob Feller, tested which was faster: One of his own blazing deliveries, or a motorcycle. Feller’s pitching won, hands down. But today, Feller’s once-remarkable speed has become commonplace, even bettered, as major leaguers routinely pass triple figures on the radar gun. The secret to this arms race? The advances in pitching analytics,often authored by people without any previous baseball pedigree.That’s part of the narrative of Unhittable, a new book by one such individual – Rob Friedman, more commonly known to his online followers as PitchingNinja

Stephen Colbert on Trump attending birthright citizenship hearing: ‘That’s mob-boss-level intimidation’

Late-night hosts tore into Donald Trump’s intimidation tactics at the supreme court hearing on birthright citizenship and another judge’s order to halt construction of his White House ballroom.Wednesday was “a big night on all the broadcast networks”, said Stephen Colbert on The Late Show, as Trump gave a primetime national address on the war in Iran.“It was concise, intelligent and brought the nation together with shared purpose,” Colbert said. “April fools! Trump gave a speech tonight, on the first night of Passover. So whether you’re Jewish or not, I recommend having had four glasses of wine